Short answers, pulled from the story.
Middle-earth Enterprises, a subdivision of the Embracer Group's Freemode division, owns the worldwide exclusive rights to certain elements of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, including character names, place names, and select phrases. Embracer Group purchased these rights from The Saul Zaentz Company in 2022.
Tolkien sold the film, stage, and merchandising rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1969. United Artists subsequently sold those rights to The Saul Zaentz Company in 1976.
The name was changed in 2010. The company, originally formed in 1977 as a division of The Saul Zaentz Company, had traded as Tolkien Enterprises for over three decades before the rebrand.
Yes. In August 2004, Tolkien Enterprises sued New Line Cinema for $20 million in unpaid royalties, citing the difference between gross and net profit accounting on the Peter Jackson film trilogy. An out-of-court settlement was reached in August 2005, though the terms were not disclosed.
In March 2012, Middle-earth Enterprises sent documents to The Hobbit, a pub in Southampton, alleging copyright infringement of its name. The pub was still trading under that name as of October 2020. The actions drew public criticism, including from Stephen Fry, who called them senseless bullying.
In November 2012, the Tolkien Estate and publishers sued Middle-earth Enterprises, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema, arguing that the original license covered only tangible merchandise like figurines and clothing, not electronic or digital rights. The lawsuit spent five years in discovery and settled amicably out of court in July 2017.